This invention relates to methods for inhibition of growth of transformed cells, and inhibition of progression to a transformed phenotype in pre-neoplastic cells.
Transformation is a cumulative process whereby normal control of cell growth and differentiation is interrupted, usually through the accumulation of mutations affecting the expression of genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation.
Scanlon, WO91/18625, WO91/18624, and WO91/18913 describes a ribozyme effective to cleave oncogenic variants of H-ras RNA. This ribozyme is said to inhibit H-ras expression in response to external stimuli. Reddy, U.S. Ser. No. 07/544,199 (filed Jun. 26, 1990) describes use of ribozymes as therapeutic agents for leukemias, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) by targeting specific junction regions of bcr-abl fusion transcripts.